principal
use is in pipes for water and gas, coverings for roofs and linings for vats
and tanks. It is also used to coat sheet iron for similar uses and as an
important part of ordinary solder.

Lead is the softest and weakest of all the commercial metals, being very
pliable and inelastic. It should be remembered that lead and all its
compounds are poisonous when received into the system. Lead is more than
one-third heavier than steel, has a tensile strength of only about 2,000
pounds per square inch, and is only about one-tenth as good a conductor of
electricity as copper.

_Zinc._--This is a bluish-white metal of crystalline form. It is
brittle at ordinary temperatures and becomes malleable at about 250 to 300
degrees Fahrenheit, but beyond this point becomes even more brittle than at
ordinary temperatures. Zinc is practically unaffected by air or moisture
through becoming covered with one of its own compounds which immediately
resists further action. Zinc melts at low temperatures, and when heated
beyo